Hate That I Love You
by aven91
Summary: Johnny meets a girl who is not interested in him at all. He takes it as a personal challenge. DOES NOT FOLLOW THE MOVIES!
1. Chapter 1

Samantha walked into her bar and sat down at the bar resting her head on the cold wood. She wore a tea length black dress that hugged her body until her waist then flared out. Her hair was done up like it had been done professionally. Her make up was light, but it still accented her features perfectly.

"Oh Sammy, honey, what happened?" the bartender asked in an overly feminine tone even though he was a man. He wore the uniform of the bartenders of her bar, a black t-shirt and blue jeans with suspenders. His suspenders were rainbow decorated along with his belt. His name was Benji and one of Samantha's best friends. He poured her a shot of whiskey and slid it over to her.

"It was awful. I was horribly disappointed." She grabbed the shot only lifting her head off the bar to take it. Her head fell back onto the bar.

"Did he whip it out in front of you and you not like what you saw?" Same raised her head enough to send him a glare. He slid her another shot as a peace offering. Her head shot up and she grabbed the shot tipping it back then slammed it back down on the bar.

"You want to know what that ass hole did, Benji?" she asked pointing a finger in his face.

"Come on, sweetness, stop making me wait!" he said pouring her three more shots. He knew how to get her to talk. She did two back to back, shivered, then took the last one.

"I'll tell you what that ass hole did!" The alcohol she ingested quickly had started to cloud the corners of her mind and vision. She shook her head to clear it away. "So, there I was in my apartment all anxious and excited that I was finally going out with a seemingly decent guy that was actually wanting a relationship instead of a quick and disappointing one-night-stand, right?"

"Right."

"Right." She rubbed her temple slowly shaking her head. She sighed before continuing. "Anyhow, he knocks on my door and when I opened it, he had a bouquet of beautiful flowers for me." She feigned a swoon then slouched her shoulders. Benji was mixing a drink for another customer that was standing near Sammy. "We had to stop to buy a vase for the flowers because, you know, all my other vases were full," she said sarcastically.

"Obviously," Benji joked back.

"Well, he takes me to this really, really nice restaurant. We sit down, start talking, laughing and giggling."

"I don't see where he's an ass hole yet," Benji said sliding the drink to the customer near her.

"I'm getting there. Now hush up and listen." Benji leaned his elbow on the bar resting his chin on his fist giving Sammy his full attention. "All the sudden he gets real serious." Sammy grabbed the edge of the bear leaning forward and widened her eyes in an exaggerated fashion of seriousness. Benji had to force himself not to laugh. "This douchebag goes," she lowered her voice to sound more manly, "You know, baby, you sure are beautiful. Why don't you sneak under the table and lick my lollipop." She dropped her forehead back onto the bar signaling the end of the story.

It didn't take long for Benji to start laughing. Sammy lifted her hand to give him the finger. Benji began pulling the pins out of her hair so that when she lifted her hair it waterfalled down her back to her waistline. Benji handed her a bottle of liquor and a shot glass. He was trying to hold back the laugh, but was failing miserably. Sammy pushed the heels of her hands into her eyes in hopes of releasing the pressure that was there. She smiled then began laughing with Benji. She reached across the bar grabbing his hands.

"You're the only man for me, Benji. Why did Zeke have to find you before me?" Benji ran his thumbs over her hands.

"Oh, trust me, honey, if it wasn't for the fact that I bat for your team, I'd climb you like Mount Everest." Sammy giggled then gave a pathetic sigh.

"Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been climbed?"

"This seems sexual," a new voice said behind them. Sammy dropped Benji's hands and turned around.

"You're correct, Zekey Boy. I'm trying to steal your boyfriend." Zeke was definitely the "man" in the relationship. He stood 6'3" weighing in at 230 of nothing but pure muscle. Which is why he was the head of security at the bar. Zeke and Sammy had grown up together. Sammy was the person Zeke had first come out to. Sammy stood by his side when he finally came out to his parents. She took him in after his parents kicked him out for being gay.

"Wasn't you just on a date?" Zeke asked crossing his arms. Sammy's head fell on the bar once more. Zeke sighed. "Oh, not again." He plopped down on the bar stool next to her. He put his hand on her back. "You wanna talk about it?" Sammy looked up at Benji giving him the go ahead.

"He wanted her to suck his dick under the table at the restaurant." Zeke sat there for a moment, then busted out laughing quickly joined by Benji. Sammy let her head fall back onto the bar with a groan. She grabbed the liquor bottle and dragged it to her. She raised her head grabbing the shot glass and poured herself another shot. She tipped it back and slammed the glass down.

"Am I ugly?" Benji and Zeke exchanged looks.

"No?" they said together.

"Am I a bad person?"

"No."

"Have I ever done anything to deserve to be treated like a piece of meat?"

"No."

"Then why the fuck do I only attract douchebags?" she whined. She began to pour herself another shot.

"Your standards are too high," Zeke said rubbing her back. The television hanging over the bar suddenly became louder drawing their attention. It showed Johnny Storm walking through a crowd of people both arms wrapped around the waists of supermodels. Sammy gave the television a scowl. She wanted to slap that smug know-it-all smirk right of his smug little face. "Take a look at this guy. He has absolutely no standards and he's got more pussy than what he knows what to do with." Sammy gave Zeke a flat look.

"Piss on Johnny Storm. He's nothing but a discount Tony Stark."

Laughter erupted behind them catching their attention. They all turned at once and nearly fell over. The Thing from the Fantastic Four stood there horse laughing. Sammy turned pouring herself another shot.

"You need to slow down," Benji suggested.

"I gotta wash the taste of foot off my tongue." The ground shook as The Thing sat down next to her taking up two stools.

"Don't worry about it. Hot Head is an attention whore."

"What ever gave you that idea?" Sammy murmured. The Thing chuckled. Sammy held out her hand to him.

"I'm Sammy."

"Ben." He grabbed her hand surprisingly gentle. His stone skin was cool and smooth to the touch. It wasn't at all what Sammy was expecting.

"Thank you." Ben gave her a strange look.

"For what?"

"You saved my life a few years ago. I doubt you remember, but you did."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I did."

"Why is that?"

"Because you wouldn't have made me laugh and change my entire mood." Sammy smiled at him.

"Whatever you want, it's on the house," she said then looked at Benji. "Got it?" Benji saluted. Sammy introduced Benji and Zeke. Zeke had to excuse himself to stop a fight before it happened. Ben and Sammy watched over their shoulder as the two patrons were calmed down then escorted out of the bar.

"You own this bar?" Sammy nodded. "How old are you?"

"Twenty four." Ben was taken aback taking a look around all over.

"It's pretty impressive." Sammy smiled at him. Ben couldn't help but smile back.

"I'll drink to that."

"Sammy, you need to slow down," Benji suggested a little more firmly.

"I'll sleep upstairs," Sammy said waving her hand at him as if to shoo him away.

"Give me your keys." She just handed him her whole purse. He left to go stash it away.

"Bad day?" Ben asked. Sammy nodded slowly. "Me too." He looked to Benji who had returned. "Pitcher of beer. No glass." Benji nodded.

"You want to talk about it?" Sammy asked. Ben gave her a thoughtful look as his pitcher was sat in front of him.

"Tell you what. Let me get a beer in me and I'll tell you all about it." He took a big gulp of the beer. "Until then. Tell me about your bad day." Sammy rubbed her temple.

"I've been on five dates with five different guys in three weeks. They all took me to dinner and none of them lasted to dessert. They all turned into horny freaks." She filled a shot glass. She tipped it back. "I know I'm young, but is it so bad that I want a relationship with someone because we care about each other and not because of the sex?"

"I don't think I've ever heard someone your age talk like that. As far as I know your generation is nothing but sex and drugs." Sammy nodded her head as she poured another shot.

"Maybe that's what's wrong with my generation." Ben hummed in question. "We're leaving out the rock-n-roll." Ben chuckled.

"You're alright, kid."

"You are, too." Another pitcher of beer appeared in front of Ben. They sat in silence for a moment.

"My girl and I had our first fight." Sammy let out a long sigh as she poured herself another drink. She felt a small twang of jealousy go through her. Here she was wanting a decent guy to treat her right and here Ben was looking like a cobblestone street right out of Seuss Land and he had someone that loved him.

"First fight, huh? How long have you two been together?"

"Almost two years." Sammy nearly spit her shot across the bar.

"Almost two years and you are just now having your first fight?" she asked in clear disbelief.

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"Everyone fights Ben."

"We didn't."

"Until now." Ben nodded looking down at his beer. Sammy chuckled shaking her head. "Come on, Big Guy there's no reason to fret." She put her hand on his shoulder. He sighed.

"It was a pretty bad fight," Ben said.

"What was it over? You know, if it's not prying." Ben grinned.

"She asked me why I hadn't proposed to her yet. She didn't like my answer." Sammy stared at him waiting for him to continue. Ben finished his beer so he could start on the new one that appeared before him. "I was going to get married before. Then she seen what I had become. She left without giving it a second thought." Sammy's face twisted in anger.

"Man, fuck that bitch!" Ben's jaw dropped. "If she couldn't look passed what you look like now to see that you are still the same man she fell in love with then she didn't really love you in the first place. And as for... for... what's your girl's name?"

"Alicia."

"Alicia, she seems like an incredible woman. And you shouldn't let what other bitch did cloud your judgement." Ben didn't answer her. He simply just let her words soak in. Sammy let her head fall on the bar. Her little rant had made her dizzy. She lay her cheek against the cold wood watching Ben.

"You're right, Sammy. You're absolutely right."

"Yeah, pizza does sound great." Ben chuckled giving her a weird look.

"I'm glad I met you, kid. What kind of pizza do you want?"

"Fully loaded." Benji came by giving Same a glass of water to drink so she didn't have a hangover the next morning. She got an extra large pizza so she and Ben could share. Ben and Sam slipped into small conversation telling anecdotes. Their pizza came and only a couple slices in, cameras started flashing and girls started squealing.

"Oh crap," Ben mumbled putting his pizza down.

"Who is it?" Sam asked unable to see around Ben's wide frame.

"It's Johnny," Ben grumbled. "I hate being me."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"I stick out like a sore thumb." Sammy frowned as a thought entered her mind.

"Do you get sore?" Ben gave her a flat look.

"Hey, there you are, Pebbles. I've been looking all over for you." Sam heard his voice before she saw him. She crinkled her nose up. "I got a phone call from Alicia begging me to come find you and tell you she was sorry and that she wants you to come back home."

"I'm getting ready to leave." Sammy verbalized her disappointment. Johnny leaned around Ben getting his first look of Same. She gave him an unamused look as he gave her an approving once over.

"And what is your name?" he asked giving her that cocky grin.

"None of your damned business," she hissed.

"What kind of a name is that?" he asked with a sarcastic grin.

"What kind of a name is The Human Torch?" Ben chocked on his beer setting his pitcher down. He grabbed Sam's liquor bottle and handed it to Benji as he walked by. Sam verbalized her disappointment once more.

"You're done, Sammy. And so am I. I'm going home."

"You need to bring Alicia back with you one day. I'd love to meet her." Ben grinned and nodded. He stood from this stools waving at Benji. He patted Sam on the shoulder and turned just as Johnny slid over into the stool next to Sam.

"Nope, you're staying away from her," Ben said grabbing his shoulder. Johnny glared at Ben, jerking his shoulder out of his grasp.

"I just want to talk."

"Bull shit," Sam said. She looked back at Ben. "It's okay, Ben. I can take care of myself." Ben nodded and left the bar to go home to Alicia.

"So, your name is Sammy, huh?" Her smile went away as she focused back on Johnny. "So, that's short for Samantha, I assume." Sammy just stared at him never faltering. She wasn't going to fall for his charm. Not in the least. He chuckled looking down, then scooted closer to her, close enough to where his leg brushed hers. Sammy glared down at his leg then back up to him.

The smirk never left his face and Sammy resisted the urge to swing at him.

"Come on, sweetheart, why such a harsh look?" he asked with a husky voice.

"You're a pig," she hissed. Johnny's eyebrows twitched up for a split second before settling back down in their proper place.

"And what makes you say that? You don't even know me." Sammy laughed at his comment.

"Oh please, the way you flaunt yourself in front of the cameras? I may as well be your nosy neighbor." Johnny leaned in closer to her unfazed by her words.

"You have a beautiful laugh." She leaned away from him giving him a confused look. His superpower was superpower was surely not taking hints. "If I could, I'd make you do it all the time." Sammy's eyes moved to Benji who was drying a glass. He wasn't looking at her though, he was looking beyond her at no doubt Zeke. Her eye fell back on Johnny who started giving off a creeper vibe. "Let me take you out."

"No," Sammy said without giving it a thought. Johnny frowned. If Sammy didn't know any better, she saw a literal fire in his eyes, but it went away when he blinked. The cocky smirk returned.

"Alright, Sammy, let me asked you a question." Sammy didn't respond. She simply waited for him to continue. "Do you fancy yourself a gambling woman?" She narrowed her eyes. She really wanted to say no, but she also wanted to know what he was up to.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Johnny straightened himself up quickly, his smirk changing into a smile. He looked up at the clock rocking his head back and forth for a moment his eyes narrowed in thought. He looked back at her.

"Give me twenty minutes. If I make you laugh in that time, I get to take you out on a date." Sammy narrowed her eyes at the challenge.

"Alright, twenty minutes. If you haven't made me laugh, you never bother me again." Johnny held out his hand to seal the deal. "We'll start when the second hand touches the twelve." Johnny nodded. Sammy shook his hand and their eyes turned to the clock. They wanted until the second hand touched the twelve, then they looked at each other. FIve seconds went by. Ten seconds went by. Sammy turned her head to say something to Benji, but was cut short when fingers dug into her ribs. She started laughing squirming away from the fingers, but they followed her.

She turned to find out who was tickling her then stood up straight gasping in disbelief. Johnny stepped back holding his hands up in mock surrender. He laughed his face glowing in victory.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight." He turned and left Sammy there with her jaw on the ground. Zeke moved over to her as she slowly sat back on her bar stool.

"Did that just happen?" she asked Zeke in disbelief. Zeke nodded his head unsure if he could. "That sneaky bastard!"


	2. Morning Surprise

"I told you to stay away from her!" Ben yelled. Johnny crossed his arms over his chest. Johnny just had to gloat. He wouldn't been Johnny if he didn't gloat. He waited nearby as Ben told Alicia about Sammy and the things she said. Johnny waited for everything to go back to normal before he had to go and ruin it all over again. Alicia stood next to Ben equally angry. She seemed like such a sweet young girl to help someone in need. Upon hearing the barbarism Johnny had pulled in order to get Sammy to go out on a date with him was unacceptable.

"I won a date with Samantha fair and square!" Johnny defended. Ben growled. He knew that he should have stayed to make sure nothing happened.

"She isn't a prize, Johnny. She's way out of your league." Johnny scoffed not believing him.

"Well, I think that we're in the same ballpark." It was Ben's turn to scoff in disbelief.

"You two are not even playing the same sport." Johnny frowned, but his interest peaked. "Look, Sammy is a nice girl. She wants a serious relationship with a serious guy. You hardly fit the bill."

"Either way, I'm taking her out on a date tomorrow, no matter what you think." Ben stepped closer to him poking a large stone finger in his chest.

"She's going to chew you up and spit you out and I'm going to laugh my ass off when she does." Johnny blasted at him, but didn't counter.

* * *

Johnny knocked on the door to the bar he saw Sammy in the night before at eight o'clock in the morning. He was more than impressed when he found out that the bar was in fact Sammy's. She was so drunk that she had stayed the night in her office.

He knocked continuously until some man poked his head out of the kitchen. He made his way to the door wiping his hands on a dish cloth.

"Hey man, we're closed," he called out without opening the door. Johnny nodded throwing his hand up in the air in understanding.

"I know, but I got a date with the owner and she stayed hate last night."

"Oh!" the man said opening the door. "I thought they were just playing. I'm sure she's not quite up yet. I thought the date was this evening." Johnny grinned moving into the bar, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, probably should have specified." The man groaned as if Johnny had committed a terrible sin.

"Sam really isn't that much of a morning person." The man put his hands on his hips clicking his tongue quickly in thought. "Ah! Here let me get you a cup of coffee to take with you." He rushed behind the bar, moving to the coffee pot. He paused after he filled a cup. "How good are your reflexes?" Johnny have him a strange look. "Anyways, here take this," he handed him the cup. "up those stairs," he pointed to the stairs, "the door says Main Office can't miss it." Johnny nodded and walked to the stairs. The man walked back into the kitchen as someone else yelled he owed them twenty bucks.

The light at the top of the stairs was dim, giving it an eerie look. Johnny half expected there to be some kind of B rate slasher film villain at the top waving a random pointy object at him. But since this was, in fact, reality there wasn't anything or anyone waiting for him at the top much to his relief. There was a hallway with a few doors lining each side. He passed each one until he found the Main Office.

He knocked three times and waited for a response. He heard Sammy's voice say, "Come in!" then he went in. He had to smile at the sight before him. The room was just a simple square room with her desk sitting right in the middle. It was made of some type of light colored wood that Johnny didn't know.

A couple tall filling cabinets say at the left side of the room next to a single window with an air conditioner in it. Sammy's hair was pulled back into a bun by means of decorative chop sticks. She wrore thick framed glasses that were pushed down to the top of her nose. She held an ink pen in her mouth like a dog would stick rolling it around on her tongue.

Her dress was thrown carelessly on the floor next to her. She now wrore a white button up long sleeve shirt with a few of the buttons undone showing cleavage. And had one leg thrown over the arm of her desk chair kicking her bare foot around. All of her make up was gone except for a small hint of mascara and eyeliner playing around her eyes. Her left hand was on top of a piece of paper on her desk keeping her place as her right hand clacked away on her computer. She stopped long enough to lock eyes with Johnny then roll her eyes.

"Good morning," Johnny said. "I brought you coffee." Sam watched him through narrow set eyes then reached for her little Styrofoam cup sitting in front of her. She tossed the cup away upon seeing it was empty. Johnny stepped forward setting it on her desk then sat in the chair that day in front of her desk.

"Thanks," she grumbled picking it up. She stuck the rim of the cup under her nose taking in a long deep breath of the aroma. A small smile touched her lips. She took a small sip of the dark life giving liquid then sat it back down. "How did you get in?"

"Kitchen staff." Sammy hummed in understanding.

"Why are you here?" She leaned back in her chair grabbing her coffee off the desk.

"Remember our date?" Johnny said supporting that cocky smirk plastered across his crappy little face. Sammy sipped her coffee.

"Yes, I do, you cheater." Johnny laughed.

"Why am I cheater?"

"How did you know I was ticklish?" Johnny leaned back in his chair putting his hands behind his head.

"It was a lucky guess." Sammy looked back at her computer.

"Our date isn't until eight. "Johnny wished he had a camera at that point when he told her he meant eight in the morning.

" I'm doing the books right now. I didn't get a chance last night because I was too drunk. I'm wearing a waitress's uniform that I give people when they start working for me, I haven't showered, brushed my teeth,"and would have kept going giving him excuses, but Johnny cut her off.

"Look, I'll take you to your place so you can get ready."

"Johnny, this is going to take me another hour or so to do."

"Then I'll wait." Sammy just stared at him. She wasn't sure how to react to him. "Do you want me to go down and get you more coffee?" She looked down at her cup to find it almost empty.

"Please." Johnny nodded standing from his chair then bowed to Sammy.

"As you wish." He flashed her a cocky smile and winked before leaving. As soon as the office door closed, Sammy dove for her phone. She sent a text to all of her kitchen staff saying, "keep him down there. Head up when he's coming back." She then called Zeke. He answered grumble.

"Oh my God! On my God! Oh my GOD!" she squeaked.

"It's too early for this."

"Johnny's here, Zeke. That date wasn't tonight, it's now." Sam heard Zeke waking Benji up. Zeke told him what was going on.

"What are you wearing?" Benji asked.

"Waitress uniform."

"Already getting into role play,I see," Zeke said. Benji giggled.

"Shut up! He's wanting me to leave. I've got books, inventory, once and twice overs..." She sighed suddenly feeling very, very burdened.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have the predate jitters," Benji teased.

"No it's not, but if I'm going to get wined and dined by a rich, arrogant, douchgebag, I can't look like I work for said restaurant."Zeke and Benji laughed." He offered to take me back to my place. "She would have continued, but Zeke jumped in.

" Well, he doesn't beat around the bush does he? "

"He's going to be beating around her bush," Benji said earning a good laugh from Zeke.

"Come on, guys. What do I do?" Zeke signed loudly.

"First things first, breathe!" Sam took a deep breath so he could hear her. "Second; finish doing payroll, throw a nice little bonus on there for me and Benji and we'll be there in an hour." Sam smiled.

"Consider it done. I love you guys."

"Love you!" they sang together. Sam ended the call. She went through the payroll and put a hundred dollar bonus on Zeke's and Benji's paycheck. A few moments after, Jason one of her kitchen staff texted her to let her know Johnny was on his way back up.

"Sam! Can I get some help out here?" Johnny called out. She frowned standing from her chair. She opened the for and snickered. She loved her kitchen staff. Johnny carried two serving trays. Each tray had several cups of coffee on each. She opened the for enough to let him in.

"Chris said this would be easier." He lay one down on her desk carefully and sat the other one down on top of the filling cabinet.

"They weren't lying. I'm what you would call an addict." And picked up one of the cups and sniffed the liquid. She took a small sip sat back down on her desk to finish the payroll. She glanced up at Johnny who was staring down at her with a small grin. She went to say something, but stopped when she saw a small fire flicker over his eyes. She remembered seeing it the night before, but thought it was just her imagination. He blinked and the flame was gone.

He sat back down in the chair he occupied earlier. Sammy still watched his eyes curious to see if the fire would come back.

"So, how long have you been an addict?" Sammy broke her eyes away from his and looked back to the computer screen. She took another sip of her coffee.

"Pretty much all my life. When I was little, my grandfather always had a cup of coffee in his hand. He always drank it down to the last drink and gave it to me." Johnny watched her carefully. He watched as her eyes focused on nothing as she recalled the memory. There was a certain sadness hidden behind the story, but he could tell she was happy to have the memory.

She went to clacking away on her keyboard. She kept her cup of coffee under her nose so she could smell the brew. Johnny took it upon himself to take in more of the room in. Behind Sammy, hanging above her head was get business degree from WVU. She had made the Dean's List three times and had graduated with honors. Johnny was more than impressed.

On the wall to his right were different photographs of Sammy, Zeke, Benji, and a few other people Johnny didn't know. He stood to get a closer look. His gaze skid over the pictures until it stopped on a photo of Sammy, Zeke, and Benji all standing in front of the building that was now get bar. They had big smiles across their faces with their arms spread out wide. He grinned letting his gaze fall to the next picture.

Sammy sat in the floor between a woman's legs who was no doubt Sammy's mother. The only difference between the two was the woman sitting behind her had black hair instead of the brown Sammy had. They both had that beautiful smile that Johnny swore he melted over. His gaze shifted again.

Sammy sat on a couch leaned up against an older gentleman who had his arm wrapped around her. Sam had her arms wrapped around his waist with her head against his chest. He had a Styrofoam cup in his free hand and Johnny wondered if it was her grandfather she spoke of earlier.

"And payroll is done," Sammy announced proudly. Johnny looked back at her and grinned. She had had her head leaned back with her glasses pushed up on her forehead as she dug her fingers into her eyes. She sat back up throwing her now empty cup of coffee into the trash and grabbed another. She put the cup under her nose eyeing Johnny. "So, what kind of date is this going to be that it requires an early morning pick up?"

Johnny grinned spinning on his heel. He grinned at her as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Usually, that simple movement was enough to have the ladies fanning themselves and squealing, but Sammy was unfazed by it. Johnny was going to have to dig deep in his drawer of charm if he was wanting to make Sammy swoon.

He moved back to his chair and sat down.

"Well," he started then suddenly felt self conscious about what he was getting ready to say. She was going to think he was a loser for sure. "I figured we could just spend the day together. You know, get to know each other." Sammy sat back into her chair crossing her arms over her chest giving him an amused look.

"How bitter was that on the tongue?" Johnny have her a questioning look. "Oh please, I am willing to bet my entire business that you have never said that to another woman. Ever." Johnny gave her the best charming smile he could give.

"It was sweeter than you think since I saved it for you."Sammy giggled.

" Good answer, "she said sarcastically.

"You like that, huh?" She giggled again.

"Yes, I did." Sammy stared into his eyes seeing that flame flicker.

"What is that?" she asked curiousity finally getting the best of her. Johnny blinked and the flame was gone.

"What is what?" Sammy narrowed her eyes at him. Was he telling the truth? Did he knows he was doing that? Was it just a figment of her imagination?

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Johnny frowned giving her a curious look. He wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about. He looked down at his skin. Was he trying to catch fire? He did that occasionally even after years of having his powers. It wasn't that he couldn't control his powers, he just couldn't control his emotions which in turn has a direct link to his powers. He was getting better at it though. At least, he thought he was.

Sammy clicked a button on her mouse and her printer whirred to life as it shot out paychecks. He quickly noticed Sammy avoiding his gaze and he didn't like it. The air around them became thick with awkwardness. Johnny had to do something.

"So, WVU, huh?" Sammy glanced back at her degree and nodded. "Why there?" Johnny could swear he seen her chest swell with pride.

"It's where I'm from." Johnny would have never guessed it. He always imagined if he met someone from that state, they'd be barefoot in overalls with a straw hat and a piece of hay sticking from their mouth. Sammy, for lack of a better term, was civilized. "And I swear, if you make one incest joke and date is off, got it?"

"What do you mean?" Johnny asked honestly confused.

"Because of that bull shit movie Wrong Turn everyone thinks it's so funny and original to make those kinds of jokes." The paychecks were done being printed so she grabbed them and put them in front of her on the desk.

"Okay, no incest jokes until the second date." Sammy have him a flat look.

"What males you think that's going to be a second date?" Johnny gave her that annoying cocky smirk.

"Oh, there's going to be a second date." Sammy grabbed an ink pen to start signing checks.

"Have you even been on a second date?" Johnny shrugged his shoulder.

"Eh, once or twice." Sammy rolled her eyes. At least he was honest, she had to give him that. Johnny watched her sign her name. Samantha Lewis. Poor girl had two first names. How stereotypically hillbilly.

"Do you even remember their names?" Sammy challenged.

"Just one." Sammy bent to open a desk drawer and pulled out a attack of envelopes. She folded each paycheck and put it in the envelopes putting the name of whoever the paycheck belonged to on the front.

"And what was her name?"

"Samantha Lewis," he answered without missing a beat. Sammy stared at him for a moment then scoffed.

"You, Jonathan Storm, are absolutely, without a doubt, the most intolerable man I have ever met." Johnny leaned forward, the flicker back in his eyes.

"And you're enjoying ever single moment of it, aren't you?" Sammy narrowed her eyes at him without answering. He needed to be slapped.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the door to her office opened and Zeke and Benji walked through. Benji carried a tote bag that he handed to Sammy.

"Go get ready. Go have fun. We'll take it from here." Sammy smiled at them taking the bag.

"I'll be back," she said to Johnny walking passed him out of the door. Johnny watched her leave and his eyes fell to the sway of her hips. She closed the door and Johnny turned back only to find Zeke and Benji glaring at him. His gaze shifted back and forth between the two.

"What?"


	3. Chapter 3

Johnny turned his head when Sammy walked back into the office. He stood giving her a brief once over. She wore a gray t-shirt that said "Free Hugs" in graffiti style on the front. She wore boot cut pants that accented her legs and waist perfectly with a pair of Converse that matched the colors of the lettering on her shirt.

"I'm ready."

"You look great." Samantha grinned and nodded her head in thanks. She waited for Johnny to approach her before she turned to her friends.

"If you burn the place down make sure it looks like an accident." They gave her a mock salute. Johnny allowed her to leave first trying to show a little chivalry. Samantha didn't even seem to react to it. They walked downstairs to run into the guy that had let Johnny in earlier.

"Hey, boss, I got the inventory list for the kitchen and the bar." Samantha didn't stop walking, making the cook follow her and Johnny. "I also have my cousin ready for his performance in a couple days. He wants to come down and talk to you and check the place out so he can figure out the best setup. Also Lou won't be in today so we're going to be short on security tonight so Zeke is going to have to work again tonight. Personally, I think you need to get rid of Lou, but you're the boss. Food is looking good running real low on spices, but the order is already sent and it should be here before we open tonight. Little low on whiskey, but that can wait for another day. Uh... I think that about covers it. Oh, who do you want to do interviews for new waitresses?" He talked fast going through each item by the time they reached the front doors. The last part stopped Samantha and crossed her to turn to him. She glanced at Johnny then sighed.

"I completely forgot about the interviews. When is the first one?" she asked rubbing her temple.

"Pretty sure it's three thirty."

"And how many do we have?"

"Three." Samantha sighed again and looked at her watch then to Johnny.

"You have really horrible timing, Johnny do you know that?" Johnny grinned and crossed his arms.

"Oh, so it's my fault you're ticklish." Sam pointed a finger in his face telling him to shut up. Sammy looked at her watch then groaned.

"I'll have to be back here around three in order to do interviews," she said to Johnny. The chef raised his hand.

"I can do the interviews." Sammy gave him a bright smile and Johnny could have sworn he melted right next to her. He wasn't even sure what it was about it. It was just an ordinary smile, but it was on the lips of one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life. He stopped himself giving her a once over.

She wasn't dressed like a supermodel by no means. She wasn't even showing her cleavage. She wore hardly any make-up. No, she wasn't beautiful; she was absolutely gorgeous and she didn't even need to try.

"Look, Jason, it's not that I don't trust you, but I don't trust you. Remember what happened the last time I allowed you to conduct the interviews?" Jason looked beyond her as if having a flashback then shivered.

"I don't trust me either. What about Chris?"

"He isn't high enough on the corporate chain."

"Benji?"

"I have him and Zeke doing the rest of my job today." Jason put his hands on his hips.

"If they're already doing your job for the day so you can go on a date," he paused for a moment then looked to Johnny. "I don't like you by the way, you cost me twenty bucks." He turned his attention back to Sam. "Then why can't they conduct the interviews?"

"Because they're supposed to be off today which is shitty because now I'm going to have to ask Zeke to work again tonight, I also can't tell them they need to fire someone for me, then I'm going to have to make up some now hiring signs for a new security position. Now, I'll be back around three." She grabbed Johnny's wrist and dragged him out of her bar.

"Look, if you want to reschedule we can. You sound like you have a lot on your plate for the day." Sam laughed. Johnny stared at her for a moment wondering if it was a sarcastic laugh or a genuine.

"I own my own business, Johnny. It's like this every day. So, let's go ahead and get this over with." Johnny frowned looking at her. He could understand that she was stressed about the upcoming events that was her day, but she sounded a little bitchy towards him. He didn't like it. Not in the least.

He held his hand out towards his car. He decided he wasn't going to bring any of his more expensive cars with him today because he knew that she wasn't going to be impressed by it. So instead, he brought his Acura. Sammy stared at the car for a moment then looked up at Johnny.

"What no Lamborghini?" she joked. Her smile was back and Johnny couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh come on, I know better than that. You're not the type of woman whose panties drop at the sight of an expensive car." Sammy gave him an evil grin.

"To be fair, you have to have panties on in order for them to drop." Johnny froze at her comment. Did she just say what he thought she said? If so, he had to push it off like she had just made a casual comment. She was not like all those other girls who would go and put wet panties in your hand and tell you to follow them to the nearest bathroom stall.

"This is true," he said as casually as possible though he was pretty sure his voice squeaked worse than when he started going through puberty. Sammy grinned and slid into the car. Johnny ran around to the other side and got in himself. As soon as he turned it on, Sam reached for the radio and turned it on.

Johnny watched her as much as possible since he was driving through some pretty busy streets. She flipped through each station that he had on the presets and listened to the music on each one. Johnny watched her curiously as she did so. He wasn't sure what she was doing.

She nodded her head, turned off the radio, then looked out the window. Johnny narrowed his eyes.

"What did you do that for?" he asked unable to keep quiet about it any longer.

Sammy turned to look at him with a small smile. She stared into his eyes and saw the flash of fire in them. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't mention it. She still wasn't sure if he was aware if it was happening or not. He very well could have been doing that on purpose to keep her interested in some way since he couldn't do it by his conventional means.

"They say that you can tell a lot about a person just by going through the presets on their radio." Johnny hummed in understanding.

"And what does my presets say about me?" Sammy turned her head back out her window to watch the buildings pass by. It was still a little overwhelming for her to be in the middle of a big city like New York. She was just a simple little backwoods type that moved to New York to live out her dream of owning the most successful bar in the country. She came from a town of less than one thousand people. Everyone knew everyone in someway. In New York, there were millions of people. Sometimes she wondered if she would wake up one morning and everything that she had would just be a dream and she would still be stuck back in West Virginia working at the local pizza parlor.

"It says you have a wonderful taste in music so you can go ahead and put a line in the win column." Johnny smiled at shook his head.

"I'll take it." He heard her chuckle.

They finally made their way to the diner and found a booth over in a corner away from the rest of the crowd so they could have a little privacy. Johnny didn't want to be too far out in the open for fear of being swarmed by people wanting pictures and autographs and the works. He really didn't mind it, in fact, he loved the attention, but today was not a day for that. No, today was just going to be about Sammy.

Sammy slid into the booth giving a kind smile to the waitress who was waiting for them to get situated before taking their drink orders. Sammy ordered coffee black and a glass of water. Johnny ordered a soda. He stared at her for a moment to which she returned the stare as if they were both sizing each other up. Sam sat back in her booth getting comfortable.

"Can I ask you a serious question?" Sammy asked as her curiosity became a little too much for her. It was something she was always curious about when it came to superheroes, but Johnny and Ben were the only ones she had ever met.

"Of course," Johnny said leaning forward. He swore he could smell her perfume over the smell of all the food and people in the diner. He realized hadn't even smelled it in the car. Was it even hers? Maybe there was a lady of the night just getting off her shift sitting near by. He took a quick glance around and saw no one.

"How did you become a superhero?" Johnny frowned slightly. It was a memory that he really didn't want to bring up. It was a very difficult and confusing time for him and his team. It nearly tore them apart at the seams, but in the end, he knew that they would be together forever.

"We were in space. We were going to study this cosmic anomaly. It wasn't supposed to hit for some time, but it was early. It hit the space station and we were all affected by it." Sammy looked down at her hands.

"How long did it take you to learn how to use your powers?" Johnny shrugged. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about himself. Usually women loved it when he talked about himself, but Sammy wasn't like that. He had to direct the conversation back to her. At the same time, though, she was the one that started the conversation.

"I think I'm still learning. There's still something to learn every day about my powers. We found out pretty fast that if I use my powers to their full potential there is a possibility I could burn the ozone layer up." Sammy looked at him shocked about his words. Then she grinned and he couldn't help but grin back.

"Good thing you're a good guy. Well, not a good guy, but… you know what I mean." Johnny gave her a deadpanned look.

"Oh come on, we were having a nice conversation," Johnny said feigning anger. Sammy grin turned into a smile, but Johnny learned it wasn't for him. It was for the coffee the waitress was sitting down in front of her. She waved the waitress away when she went to lay cream and sugar out to signal that she didn't need any.

"Are we ready to order?" the waitress asked a little too perky for her to be a waitress. Sammy smiled up at her.

"I am if you are," she said glancing at Johnny. Johnny nodded. Sammy turned her attention back to the waitress. "I would like the biscuits and gravy with a side of extra bacon." The waitress scribbled it down with the biggest smile on her face. She looked to Johnny waiting for him.

"I'll have the same." They fell silent as the waitress walked away to place their orders. Sammy picked up her coffee and placed it under her nose taking in the scent of it. Johnny could see the smile behind the cup as she smelled it. Johnny grinned as he watched her.

"Why do you do that?" he asked truly curious. It was an odd thing to do and she always seemed to do it whenever she had coffee. Sam gave him an odd look as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Do what?"

"Smell your coffee before you drink it." Sam glanced down at the ceramic white cup containing the nectar of the gods inside then back up at him.

"I just love the smell of it. There's no better smell in this world than a hot cup of coffee." Johnny grinned and Sam had to fight not to return it. She didn't have to fight long because the flame returned to his eyes. She wanted to call him out on it, but part of her wondered if he knew what he was doing and all just to get her worked up over something he was doing. She honestly wouldn't put it past him.

Their food came before too long and they enjoyed their food in silence. Sammy soon sat her fork down to take a few sips of coffee.

"It's good, but it's not the way my Mama makes it." Johnny grinned taking the opportunity to learn more about her.

"You're mom still live in West Virginia?" Sammy nodded her head looking a little sad over the fact.

"Yeah. I miss her a lot." There was a small silence. "What about your parents?" Sam immediately regretted her words as his eyes darkened.

"They passed away a long time ago." Sam's heart broke for him. He looked so sad about it and it was all her fault.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Johnny grinned at her though the pain was still in his eyes. Their thoughts were pulled away when they saw flashes from cameras. Johnny groaned completely annoyed. He pulled out his wallet and threw some money down on the table. He didn't even count it. He didn't care. He had to get Sam out of there. He knew she wasn't going to go for that kind of treatment. Any other girl and they would be all of Johnny just to get their fifteen minutes of fame.

He slid out of the booth and held his hand out to Sam who took it without question. He pulled her up and into him as he slipped her arm around her protectively and led her out of the diner as quickly as humanly possible. He put her in the car and ran to his side and slipped in and drove away. Sam had her hands on her face as her cheeks burned red.

"Oh, man, this is just great. Now my face is going to be plastered all over tv about how I'm now Johnny Storm's new love interest." Johnny grinned glancing over at her.

"But… you are Johnny Storm's new love interest." She gave him a flat look and Johnny was really glad that looks couldn't kill. She then laughed and shook her head.

"You're impossible."


End file.
